SPORTS: LOCAL NEWS: Fifth-ranked Raiders Region taking head into district as notice of area top seed: Page 9 growth: Page 13 162nd yEAR • No. 306 16 PAGES • 50¢ CLEVELAND, TN 37311 THE CITY WITH SPIRIT TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 2017 Teachers’ pay concerns voiced Tennessee Crye urges fellow legislators commissioners to give nod to beware of future gas tax hike By BRIAN GRAVES [email protected] One of the Bradley County commissioners took Local projects advantage of an empty agenda Monday night to express his concerns about the pay for county teachers. total $220M Commissioner Thomas Crye said Director of Schools Dr. Linda Cash had advised him she has By BRIAN GRAVES [email protected] been told the county schools will take a $700,000 hit in state BEP funds. The Tennessee House of “All of us should think Representatives voted Monday “I’m not making a our teachers deserve a night to concur with the state howell demand. I’m not minimum pay raise at Senate and give the final making a request. I’m least in the amount of approval to Gov. Bill Haslam’s making an observa- what the Bradley County transportation infrastructure tion and laying it out employees receive,” Crye act. on the table. We have said. The final vote was 67-21. a storm over the hori- County employees The bill prioritizes 962 proj- zon that we need to have gotten 2 percent ects across all of Tennessee’s be aware of.” raises for the last few Banner photo, BRIAN GRAVES 95 counties, addressing a — Commissioner years. $10.5 billion backlog in Tom Crye Crye said it was not CommISSIoNER ThomAS CRyE expressed his concerns about county teachers’ pay during repairs and updates. the case last year Monday’s County Commission work session. The legislation also includes “because of the BEP and insurance disaster of a local option for municipali- $600,000 plus or minus dollars.” tem that BEP supports.” request. I’m making an observation and laying it ties to hold their own referen- Brooks He said the raises were taken away in lieu of He said guidance counselors only get 76 per- out on the table,” he added. “We have a storm dums for tax increases to fund local trans- that increase. cent of BEP funding and support staff only get 68 over the horizon that we need to be aware of.” portation needs and provides property tax relief Crye said teachers instead who had been there percent. Commissioner Milan Blake said he was at a to veterans and the elderly. up to five years got a one-time $500 payment; 6- “This year, allegedly, and I hope so with a 26- recent school board meeting and it was his The bill also includes tax cuts for state resi- 10 years got $300; and 11-plus got a $200. cent property tax increase, the city of Cleveland is understanding the teachers at a minimum would dents on food, business and Hall income taxes. “In school year 2014-15, they got nothing,” projecting to give a 3 percent teacher raise,” Crye be getting a 2 percent raise. The issue with the state House was many of Crye said. said. “Hamilton County teachers are projected to “The school board voted to rescind a resolution its members felt senators were using the tax “I just want to put that out on the table,” he get a 5 percent raise.” where anything above 5 percent they were put- relief for the veterans and the elderly to get the said. “This is something to think about and we need ting into capital funds, so I’m assuming when we governor’s bill passed. He noted the BEP funds 402 teachers. to keep it in the forefront because of the BEP hit get their budget here in a week or two there will The House voted for those tax credits sepa- “We have 527 in the system,” Crye said. “The that is coming,” Crye said. “We need to take care be a minimum of at least 2 percent and probably rately; however, the Senate passed the BEP does not provide full funding for those 402. of our employees, and that’s the bottom line.” more,” Blake said. “I look forward to seeing their IMPROVE Act with those tax issues as part of There is a total of 633 people in the school sys- “I’m not making a demand. I’m not making a budget.” their version of the bill. House members had to decide whether to accept the Senate bill as a whole, or face the possibility of sending it back to the Senate and potentially lose ground on the issue. That was not to be. BCSO, CPD joint statement reports “I’ve said before, and it’s worth repeating, folks will save more at the store than they will pay at the pump,” said state Rep. Kevin Brooks (R-Cleveland). working relationship remains strong Brooks noted the legislation raises $350 mil- lion for roads, while it cuts $400 million in taxes. By ALLEN MINCEY “It’s important the public real- A statement from Communications [email protected] izes this issue has only led to bet- Director James Bradford of the BCSO “Locally, we’ll see immediate action toward ter communication between both and Sgt. Evie West, public information Georgetown Road and Highway 60, which is The working relationship between the agencies, and hasn’t affected the officer for the CPD, said that both agen- very important to anyone who drives near Cleveland Police Department and Hopewell, Cleveland Middle and the new city close relationship that has been cies “have an obligation to address Bradford Bradley County Sheriff’s Office is the established for quite some time.” issues which creates high liability.” school. best it has been in years, according to — Joint Statement The statement from the two agencies “I was proud to cast my vote tonight to fully some local officials, and a recent report is as follows: restore tax benefits to disabled veterans and of the two “feuding” has been “The Bradley County Sheriff’s Office the elderly,” said state Rep. Dan Howell (R- overblown, both agencies say. trative staffs, met with Bradley County and Cleveland Police Department are Georgetown) just moments after the vote. Several media reports have used the Attorney Crystal Freiberg to discuss the aware that several media reports are “I believe this is responsible legislation,” word “feud” when discussing a recent policies on April 5. Since that meeting, reporting a feud between our agencies. Howell added. It cuts taxes, provides funding disagreement over booking a prisoner at there reportedly have been no instances Both agencies have an obligation to for our infrastructure, improves safety (such as the Bradley County Justice Center. As of an arrested party by the Cleveland address issues which creates high lia- on Highway 60 near Hopewell school) and the Cleveland Daily Banner reported Police Department being kept from bility. allows us to continue to have some of the best Monday, officials said that this was a incarceration at the county jail. “The incidences regarding the intake roads in the nation without borrowing money and spending hundreds of thousands of your misunderstanding due to each agency However, with some in the media of arrestees with medical needs beyond tax dollars on Interest payments.” following different policies. reporting a “feud” between the two, a the capacity of on-site medical providers The bill now heads to the governor’s desk for Both Bradley County Sheriff Eric joint statement was issued Monday are concerns with jails across the state Watson and Cleveland Police Chief Mark afternoon to let the public know this is his signature and that will give the go-ahead to Gibson, and members of their adminis- not the case. See BCSO, Page 13 West several major road projects totaling more than $220 million in Bradley County. All of these are noted on the Tennessee Department of Transportation website as being “IMPROVE Act projects.” Council seeking county’s formal request on funds One of the major projects, and the one which all of the county’s state legislators cited as a primary reason for supporting the bill, is By LARRY C. BOWERS school system. A longstanding agreement enable the county to give the city Highway 60. [email protected] The county is planning to pur- between the city and county des- school system approximately $1.1 chase the former American ignates that any money borrowed million. The project is currently listed as a “backlog” The Cleveland City Council Uniform facilities adjacent to the for educational pursuits by the In a letter from Commission project, meaning TDOT has “already begun, spent considerable time Monday Ocoee Middle School campus for county must be shared with the Chairman Louie Alford, the coun- invested in and is committed to finishing” the discussing a request from the an innovative learning center for city, based on enrollment. This ty is asking the Cleveland City nearly 3-mile stretch of road extending from Bradley County Commission to students to teach industrial skills means the county must borrow Council and the Cleveland Board Georgetown Road N.W. from the four-lane join in the spirit of a recent edu- now required in an ever-evolving around $3.3 million to purchase cational initiative for the county regional workplace. the old plant for $2.2 million, to See COUNCIL, Page 13 See GAS TAX, Page 13 AROUND TOWN WEATHER INDEX Classified.....................14-15 Sports..............................9-11 Blake Walker saving a family of Today should be mostly sunny, with a high near birds ..